wesleyp's blog

What a long week. For as long as I’ve been in school, October always seems to be the busiest / craziest / longest / shortest month of the year. It seems like all of the major projects and midterms and presentations hit in October, and this one has been no exception.

About an hour ago I finished my first literature review in the learning design program, and it was no easy task. I’ve always been able to “stay up late” or “wait until the last minute” to complete my school work, but I am finding that to be less and less true in grad school. Grad work really takes thinking, planning, analyzing and synthesizing material, and you really can’t do a good job at it last minute. I find myself enjoying the topics I am studying and writing about, so I feel like I am producing a higher quality of work than I ever have in the past. Now I just hope I can find the perfect thesis topic or major project so that this feeling continues =)

I think that Frank did a wonderful job summarizing the article on Universal Learning Design.

I think Universal Learning Design can simply be defined as  “Focusing research, development, and educational practice on understanding diversity and applying technology to facilitate learning.”

I think that the following statement is important “UDL provides a vision for breaking the “one-size-fits-all” mold and therefore expands the opportunities for learning for all students with learning differences,” but I also think that it is important to not only highlight the fact the UDL helps students with learning disabilities, but ALL students. Making easy to remember connections in the material and engaging students in the content they are studying is important for everyone.

Voice Thread Debate: Is Google Making Us Stupid? Final Thoughts

(A) Current views (as a result of researching and listening to arguments on both sides) on the real effects on Web use on thinking and learning.

After researching and refuting this topic for a week, I am not any closer to taking one side or the other. While I do believe that the internet is an absolutely powerful resource, I do find it equally distracting. While clearly the internet has positive effects on our brains and the availability of  information, I think we also have access to just as much counter-productive material. I have yet to sit down at the computer with the intention of completing my homework and not wandering off to check my fantasy football team or reply to some emails. I wouldn’t say that Google is making us “stupid,” but it is most definitely challenging our self discipline.

(B) potential strategies for learning designers to use to ensure that the products they create are truly beneficial for the learners who use them.

I think that the most important aspect of creating truly beneficial products for learners is to keep them motivated and engaged. Keeping learners engaged does not just have one solution, but I think that providing a handful of proven resources would be beneficial for getting them started, then encouraging them to analyze the “quality” materials before moving on and searching for additional resources on their own. This allows them to see examples of what to look for before going out on their own. I know that when I was first told to write a lit review, I had no idea where to start. Once I was given theses and example resources, I knew what to look for and how to move on independently researching my own topic.

Please also share some reflections on what it was like to try to collaborate with teammates online, your role in your team’s efforts, and any ideas or suggestions you have for making this project even better for future students.

First and foremost, I think that there needs to be more time (at least 2+ days)  between rebuttals. Coordinating schedules for 6 people who all have different classes, jobs and obligations was nearly impossible. Our group worked best divided into “sub-groups.” For the initial post, I helped organize research. This was surprisingly difficult without synchronous communication with the group member who found the resources because it was difficult to follow their train of thought. On the refute, I did research and helped organize the information for the voice thread. This was painful because in order for Rachel to have the most time for recording, I worked from 12am to about 3am Monday night.

I liked the article, and there was a lot of good information available. There were many avenues that both my team and the opposing team could have taken their arguments, so the final result was interesting.

One final suggestion for the future of this assignment, I would encourage adding more points. There were A LOT of hours put into this project between our team members (some more than others), but I would like to see more of a reward for the hard work. Maybe change the points available from 25 to 50?

This week was hands down the busiest since starting grad school. From my 6750 midterm to the 5660 presentation in Elluminate on JSB,  to leading two demonstrations on iMovie in VCT1030, I was really looking forward to this opportunity to sit back and reflect on my accomplishments. Classes are moving fast, but I feel like I am also absorbing more information than I ever did in undergrad. I think that I am finally learning about topics that I have a strong interest in. I knew how to make web sites before I started the VCT program, so I probably didn’t “learn” as much new information as my peers in school. I had to read and research a lot on my own outside of the classroom to advance my skill set. I feel like I am finally learning in class again, and I enjoy learning from my peers and pushing my limits.

Last week’s reading was chapter 2 & chapter 3 of “On Intelligence.”  It focused on defining intelligence, the neocortex and the connections and functions that occur inside the brain that are critical to understanding how the human brain works. This week we followed up by reading chapters 4 & 5, and here are some key points:

Memories are patterns, and the brain remembers only the important relationships, not every detail.

Perceptions are influenced by memories, and the brain is always making predictions about what may or may not happen in the future.

Hawkins views intelligence as the ability to remember patterns and make sound predictions.

In addition to last week’s chapters, I found 4 & 5 to be very interesting. I have no personal interest in studying the human brain, but I am always intrigued by others’ research on how it functions.  I agree with Hawkins in the sense that an aspect of intelligence is making connections and predictions, but I also believe it is taking what you’ve learned or remember from the past and making the information relevant and applying it in new ways.

Chapter 2 & 3 of “Neural Networks & The Human Mind” were both very interesting. They focused on defining intelligence, the neocortex and the connections and functions that occur inside the brain that are critical to understanding how the human brain works. Ian did a great job summarizing the chapters and prompting discussion questions, and my replies are below.

I think to be an effective learning designer, one needs to know at least a little bit about intelligence and the general functions of the brain. I think Aaron makes a great point when he talks about utilizing teaching techniques that work in patterns, the same way the human brain does. In my personal experiences, repetition through the use of note cards or listening to my material on my ipod has helped me when studying large amounts of information because it creates study patterns.

This week I completed my third, and so far best, Prezi on John Keller. Even though each Prezi is a huge clean slate to drop content anywhere, I feel like I am now able to create more organized presentations. I wish I could be bold and say that Prezi was my favorite new tool so far, but XMind and Jing are both amazing too!

I really enjoyed researching John Keller and his ARCS model; not only did I learn a lot, but this is the second theorist that I’ve researched and I find it amazing that I agree with a lot of the findings from both. To describe the foundation of the ARCS model in one word, it would be motivation. It is about using teaching techniques t keep the students motivated and engaged by using relevant information so they can learn effectively.